The E-Learning Maturity Model (eMM) is a quality improvement framework designed to help institutional leaders assess their institution's e-learning maturity. This paper reviews the eMM, drawing on examples of assessments conducted in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA to show how it helps institutional leaders assess and compare their…

The purpose of this study is to explore aspects and indicators most commonly used to assess the quality of education systems in different countries through the comparison of 12 national publications describing the state of the educational system. To compare indicators the CIPP model was chosen. This model is organized in four main parts: Context,…

Structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews are often used in mixed method studies to generate confirmatory results despite differences in methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. A review of 19 questionnaire-interview comparison studies found that consensus and consistency statistics were generally weak between…

In New Zealand, as in many other countries, recent curriculum revisions have seen a change in focus in science education. There is an increased emphasis on students knowing about how the discipline of science works, with the aim of equipping them to become more critical users of science. In the New Zealand Curriculum document (Ministry of…

The purpose of this study was to apply and explore, in the context of an Icelandic preschool, the methods developed by the New Zealand "Te Whaariki" curriculum to assess children's well-being and learning dispositions. This article describes the process of piloting learning stories as a research method, where researchers and preschool…

This research draws on the experiences of a group of tertiary teachers who compiled a multi-purpose portfolio as an assessment component of a postgraduate certificate in tertiary teaching at a New Zealand University. The research was initially undertaken in response to feedback from some of the participants that the experience of compiling a…

Considering the high levels of time and money invested in teacher professional development programmes in information technologies over recent decades, questions arise as to how effective these programmes have been and by whose lights we are to judge. Based on a critical review of the evaluations of several of our own action-research-based…

This article introduces a waka tino whakarawea model for evaluating programmes and services for Maori learners. It is based on a set of underlying principles identified in the author's PhD study (Bevan-Brown, 2002). Explanations are provided for eight principles: kaupapa Maori; importance, relevance and beneficence; participation; empowerment,…

This paper examines the assessment practices of teachers working with students with special educational needs in New Zealand primary and secondary regular and special schools. A national survey was used to identify current assessment practices used by teachers working with students designated, through a resourcing policy, as having high and very…

The Performance-Based Research Fund introduces research assessment and links this with the state funding of institutions of higher education in New Zealand. There has been considerable support from the university sector for this initiative in the belief that it will divert funding from polytechnics and other tertiary education organisations. This…

While the potentials of virtual worlds to support experiential learning in medical education are well documented, assessment of student learning within these environments is relatively scarce and often incongruent. In this article, a conceptual framework is proposed for formatively assessing dispositional behaviours in scenario-based learning…

Scientific literacy is explored in this paper which describes two studies that seek to understand a particular feature of the nature of science; namely scientists' habits of mind. The research investigated scientists' views of scientific evidence and how scientists judge evidence claims. The first study is concerned with scientists' views of what…

This is a powerful critique of two decades of educational reform in New Zealand, from an educator who was deeply involved. It is also a provocative call for action. Bali Haque has been both a secondary school principal required to implement reform and a senior public servant in the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) tasked with pushing…

This article reports on a comprehensive study, investigating the use of e-tools for formative assignment assessment. The study conducted a large-scale literature review and interviews with 90 academics at five New Zealand tertiary institutions. The focus of the study was on formative assessment provided in assignments, an area in which educational…

Participant-observation in two classes at a large initial teacher education institution in New Zealand found that undergraduate students spent a considerable amount of time discussing matters related to their assignments and the assessment of their work. Two quite distinct types of engagement, specific to each class, were noted. In one class, the…